Agent Carter S2E5: “The Atomic Job” Review

Peggy Carter's charisma and humor elevates a standard heist episode to a fun and funny adventure.

Boom Goes the Dynamite

Some say Marvel’s sense of humor is it’s greatest feature. Other say it’s too-often used crutch used to save otherwise middling projects. No matter where you stand, you can’t deny that it’s certainly an effective tool for the House of Ideas.

This was a very straightforward episode of Agent Carter. Peggy and the S.S.R. discover a plot by the baddies to acquire some nuclear warheads. Peggy “questions” a man to get access to said warheads, and it’s up to her to steal them first. It’s a structure so tried and true it’s become stale at this point, however likeable characters and a snappy sense of humor kept it enjoyable throughout.

Furthermore, we finally saw the season’s antagonist finally make the jump to…antagonist. Sure, you could argue that the Zero Matter is the real threat here, but Whitney Frost is the physical manifestation of the Zero Matter, so they’re one in the same for the time being.

Peggy’s interrogation of Robin Scherbatsky’s dad (or President Dugan if you know your late 90’s RTS games) was a minor plot point that was stretched into a major sequence. Was it stretched out of necessary to pad the run time? I can’t say, but the use of the mind-wiping electro-device turned an otherwise tedious scene into a great one, the conclusion of which was priceless.

Furthermore, the “Guardians of the Galaxy walk down the hallway” shot was undercut by the bumbling nature of everyone surrounding Peggy. It wasn’t exactly subtle, but it wasn’t over the top, and that’s been the tone of this show since day one. It’s nothing unfamiliar to us.

The heist itself was a great blend of action and humor, as every character (save for Samberly) had something to do. Peggy and Rose gave us great action, Sousa and Jarvis gave us levity. It was fun and engaging from beginning to end.

The episode was standard fare throughout, up until the climax. Peggy’s fall and subsequent injury on the metal rod thing actually shocked me, and it was a bitter ending to an otherwise smooth operation. Sousa and Jarvis immediately brought Peggy to Sousa’s girlfriend’s home. This, of course, was meant to set up some sort of love triangle. That aspect of the episode faltered a bit, since his girlfriend hadn’t been on screen since the season premiere, so the emotional oomph was missing.

But my mind was on Peggy, as it should be, since, you know, protagonist. Without her, a similar episode of television would have been a boring, paint-by-numbers heist. Luckily, Peggy’s charisma and humor elevated the episode to the enjoyable level we’ve come to expect.

Odds and Ends

Don’t shoot…Howard.

The brutal “punch a guy out for ogling Frost” was well done, but I’m not really sure what we were supposed to take away from that.

That is one large, luxurious vent through which Peggy was creeping.

Everyone likes pie.

Alex Russo likes to talk about television. You can read more of his insane ramblings on Twitter.